He was also recently screened for dyslexia and a number of red flags have appeared from this screening.
I agree with respecting the child’s readiness to learn to read and accepting that he will eventually learn to read in his own time. However, there are interventions available in school and at home to help support him get there, before he really experiences a sense of failure by comparison to his peers. Would you advise parents to shy away from the “interventionist” approaches , and instead trust in him that he will get there anyway when he is ready? My concern would be the damage that could be done to a child’s self esteem as the gap between him and his peers widens without any type of interventions of support. Is “early intervention” not a worthwhile pursuit?

I personally don’t believe that trusting children and “gaining skills” are mutually exclusive. Rick speaks to multiple intelligences, adults seeing and teaching the individual child, and empowering children by helping them to take personal responsibility for their actions. Certainly marginalized students benefit as much as (or even more than) privileged children through being taught by teachers who prioritize relationships, believe their students to be brilliant learners, who trust them to succeed in their own time, who recognize what they can do and are doing (as opposed to coming from a viewpoint of shoring up deficits) . All children deserve teachers who respect them and provide the enriched environment and experiences that speak to their strengths and preferences without pushing them to read before they have developed the readiness for the experience.

However, as a white person with socioeconomic privilege, I’ve also been thinking a lot as an educator about how my perspective on letting kids naturally and organically develop may be coming from this place of privilege. For many families, school is where their kids should go to learn hard skills (including reading) so they can be in good stead to do well in high school, go to college, and get a ‘good’ job. I think of the readings of Lisa Delpit and the importance of marginalized students gaining skills so as to have access to the codes of power.

I would love to hear Janet and Mr Ackerly speak to this. I think it’s a really important part of the conversation, so this message isn’t considered just one for parents who already have certain privilege.